


this i was not expecting

by ampere



Category: Little Mix (Band)
Genre: F/F
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-07-16
Updated: 2013-07-16
Packaged: 2017-12-20 10:16:17
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,555
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/886084
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ampere/pseuds/ampere
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>A HS AU where Jesy is supposed to be a jock, Perrie is a flower child, Leigh is a bad girl and Jade is cute.  Except not really entirely like that.</p>
            </blockquote>





	this i was not expecting

**Author's Note:**

> This was inspired by an ask yay

There’s a muffled gasp by the third time Jesy makes a lap around the bleachers. She tries to just keep going, her legs burning from the strain and her breath coming out in little puffs. Her coach tells her to stop being a sissy and to keep running.

So Jesy pulls a face and jogs on, focus on the game that’s coming up, tries to make sure she remembers the plays.

She can’t ignore it when she makes another lap, she looks around and sees the rest of the girls taking a water break, her coach gone to his office to look over the other team’s stats.

She’s not all that surprised (Jesy stopped being surprise first year, when she watched Leigh-Anne take out a guy twice her size) when she takes a peak behind the bleachers and she sees Leigh-Anne in a pile of limbs with some poor girl under her, nose bleeding and a ring of black over one of her eyes.

She seems to be giving weak attempt against Leigh-Anne, gets a punch to her stomach and Jesy snaps into action, pulls Leigh-Anne off the poor girl and takes a second to relish at how much stronger she is.

“What are you doing?” she asks and Leigh-Anne wipes the back of her hand over her cheek.

“She was makin’ fun of Jade,” she mumbles, lets Jesy manhandle her around and Jesy rolls her eyes, pulls Leigh-Anne from under the bleachers and throws a quick apology over her shoulder.

-

Jesy shouldn’t be there, she’s got a math test to pass so she can stay on the team and her coach would kill her if she failed her drug test because of second hand smoking. But Perrie wiggles her eyebrows and drags her behind the school, long maxi skirt looking like a soft wave of clouds around her creamy legs.

Leigh-Anne raises a finger up in greeting and takes another drag from her blunt, eyes gone dilated and mouth shiny with spit.

“Nice of you to join us Nelson,” Leigh-Anne hums around the smoke, “knew Perrie would get you to come along.”

Jesy shrugs, tries to look uncaring but Perrie gives a little questioning look and Jesy shakes her head, smiles and glares at Leigh-Anne.

“Where’s Jade?” Jesy asks and Leigh-Anne flips her off.

“She’s in class, didn’t wanna get in trouble.”

-

Jesy’s known Jade all her life, since they were little and Jade’s bows were massive in her hair, made her look like a little Disney character. Even now, with them all hitting puberty and sprouting, Jade is still cute as ever.

Jesy laughs at all the bright dorky prints and thick sunglasses Jade seems so keen on wearing. But it turns out that most of the school population finds that attractive, and most importantly Leigh-Anne finds it attractive.

She remembers stomping down the halls, letterman jacket flapping behind her when she heard the rumor.

 _Leigh-Anne kissed Jade under the orchard tree_.

She means to punch Leigh-Anne, because Jade is something people talk about touching but _never_ really do, she’s too good, too nice, too innocent.

People don’t wanna waste time on someone like Jade.

The fight goes out of her when Jade spots her, runs up to Jesy with her ponytail whipping behind her and pulls her with both hands to meet Leigh-Anne, _her girlfriend_.

And we’ll, Jesy really wasn’t expecting that.

Perrie happens one chilly afternoon, It’s still tennis season, and her skin shivers over the skimpy uniform failing to keep her warm. Leigh-Anne is the only one who drives between them (Jesy considers seriously passing her driving test) she waits for a while, texts Jade that _your gf is a dick_.

A little rickety Volkswagen Beetle ends up passing by. It doesn’t look so safe but Jesy needs to get home and sleep the match away.

She sticks her hand out and watches to see if the car actually stops.

It gives a groan when it stops and Jesy leans into the open window. Takes in the girl’s pale skin and blonde hair, eyes bright and rimmed in black.

"Hey sunshine," Jesy grins, “mind giving me a ride home?"

The girl looks at her, mouth opening into a laugh, “you’re that Nelson kid," she finally says and flings the door open.

Turns out Perrie goes to their school, Jesy looks at the back of the small car, throws her bag there and catches a glimpse of picket signs. Declaring to save the trees, the whales, every extinct thing Jesy has ever heard about. And then one that says _love is equal_ written neatly in rainbow letters.

-

The amount of times Jesy has caught Jade and Leigh-Anne are enough to not let her sleep for days.

She never really thought of Jade as an exhibitionist but it turns out Leigh-Anne brings out the worst (or best) of people.

Her appetite is gone by the time she reaches the courtyard, watching the way Leigh-Anne sticks her hand down Jade’s skirt and her tongue down her throat.

"Hey sunshine," someone eclipses the sun from her and Jesy looks away from the two girl spectacle.

It’s Perrie with a fringed cowgirl vest and bell bottoms.

"Hey," Jesy smiles, looks around at the people milling around, not paying her any attention.

"Just wanted to ask if you wanted a ride later," Perrie smiles.

Jesy looks over at Jade and Leigh-Anne again, then at Perrie, who appears to be shoe-less and has a billions bracelets up her arms.

"Yeah sure, kid."

-

Winter comes quickly and so does winter track.

Jesy likes track the best, all she has to do is run, _run run run_ and never look back.

The thing about Jesy is that, she’s got a reputation that seems to scare people away. And although she gets lingering looks and whistles her way, she’s never had a boyfriend for longer than a week.

Perrie tells her it’s the power, the fact that Jesy can hold her own, can beat up half the boys she dates. It’s the fact that Jesy doesn’t need them that Jesy doesn’t have a lot of luck with boys.

And like everything that just mentions Perrie, her mind goes fuzzy and her heart goes off beat.

Winter comes and Jesy’s freckles leave, she still gets looks and still ends up alone.

-

Perrie shows up with a flower crown and no coat all winter long. Mostly people don’t pay attention to her. But Jesy drinks the sight of her. The long neck, the bare arms, the little chain of flowers she draws over her wrist and ankles.

She’s got a day off practice and they all flock to her house, Jesy opens the door in a tank top and sweat pants and Jade looks cute and tiny all bundled up under her parka and layers of scarves. Leigh-Anne shrugs at her from under her leather jacket and Perrie’s gotten on a long sleeve shirt. Which is the most covered up Jesy’s ever seen Perrie’s arms.

Jesy’s house is huge but they end up in her bedroom, with Jade flopped on her belly and Leigh-Anne straddling her sides, siting on her lower back.

"You guys are gross," Jesy groans but Perrie smiles, takes out her camera and takes a picture of the two girls.

"It’s cute," Perrie argues.

Jesy gets blinded then, with a flash on her face and Perrie looks at the little screen and says, “I’ve decided to take up photography."

Jesy wished Perrie would take her up instead.

Leigh-Anne finds Jesy’s old tattoo gun and Perrie’s eyes light up, grabs at it and makes Jesy let her tattoo a little sun on her.

"Where?" Jesy asks and Perrie pushes her down, lifts her shirt up, fingers pushing up the band of Jesy’s sports bra, fingers scrapping the soft skin there.

"Jesy has abs," Leigh-Anne crows.

Abs are something that happen when you play a million and one sports, actually.

Perrie pushes her bra up until Jesy knows the beginnings of her nipple are showing, dusty pink.

"Here," Perrie finally says, presses the needle down. Her eyes have gone funny, wide and dark but Jesy swallows, tries to smile as best as she can, a smile that doesn’t say anything about how Perrie is too close to her, too close to her to be fair.

When they leave and Jesy has some time to close her eyes and think it over, she presses a thumb to the raised skin and hisses at how much it hurts. How much liking Perrie hurts.

-

Jesy asks Jade how Leigh-Anne happened on day after school.

"It wasn’t a spontaneous thing," Jade says, “she was really persistent…and well…I’ve always liked bad girls."

There’s a faint blush over Jade’s cheeks and Jesy laughs at that.

-

Jesy gets Perrie a Christmas present, she goes to thrift store after thrift store, feels the dust stick to her jacket and her jeans.

“It’s made from hemp,” she says when she gives Perrie the bag, “I saw it and thought about how you don’t have a coat and it reminded me of you,” Jesy shrugs, watches as Perrie pulls out the sweater, old and frayed and fading in the pastel colors it has been dyed in.

“It’s amazing,” Perrie assures her, folds it on her lap, “didn’t get you anything though.”

“That’s alright, we didn’t say we were going to give presents, I just wanted to.”

Perrie smiles, her feet are bare again and her toes are painted sky blue. Jesy’s been made taller with her boots and Perrie cranes up on her toes, kisses Jesy’s cheek and grins.

“I’ll give you another tattoo as a gift,” she says, hands going into her sack, “I’ve got a machine of my own now!”

She pulls it out, polishes it off with her palm.

“Girls bathroom?” Jesy asks and Perrie laughs, starts skipping down the aisle.

The metal of the door is cold against her lower back, where Perrie’s lowered her jeans, hip bone sticking out.

“I’ll do a little star, ‘cause you’re a little sports star,” Perrie snorts at her joke, presses the needle down and stars the sharp lines.

The situation is one that Jesy’s thought of a million of times, Perrie on her knees for her, the cheap thrill of getting caught. But Perrie pulls away, pats at the fresh burn over the sharp bone of Jesy’s hips and gets up, knees cracking, bones trying to align right back into place.

“It’s pretty,” Perrie says.

“Like you,” Jesy’s mouth says too quick, but it feels like the words take forever, and Perrie’s eyes get a flash of something Jesy can’t recognize.

“Or you,” Perrie finally says.

The door flings open, a loud bang echoing over the tiles and then the sweet smell of smoke.

“Ay,” Leigh-Anne calls, “you two decent? Jade wants to go to the book store.”

-

The good thing about having Jade as a girlfriend, Jesy thinks, is that Leigh-Anne gets help with all her pranks, a brain and organizer.

The weather is still cold but it’s warm enough to leave behind heavy winter coats. It’s warm enough that Perrie starts wearing short sleeves again and her skirts become thinner, worn out cotton that really leave nothing to the imagination.

“There’s a blind spot on the science wing, right in front of the the first classroom,” Jade murmurs, hands wrapped tightly over her book bag, “when I give the signal, Jesy lets go of the chicken I’ve got here.”

Perrie laughs, plays with the nose ring she got over winter break. It’s a hoop earring that makes her look like a gypsy, hair gone a bit faded to white, eyes rimmed dramatic in black. She looks exotic in a way that still feels like everything Jesy is used to, like something she needs.

“Then at the other blind spot over the library, Perrie lets go of the second chicken,” Jade looks down her paper, typed neatly, “The commotion should be enough for Leigh-Anne to sneak into the PA room, putting up a mix of 70’s music.”

Leigh-Anne rubs her hands together, cigarette hanging limp from her mouth, “best girlfriend ever,” she sighs, wraps an arm over Jade, who goes easily into her body.

“And then I’ll go in and crash the school system, giving more time for report cards and grades to be added, and hopefully for Leigh-Anne and Jesy not to fail.

“Awesome,” Jesy yawns, her breath comes out in a coil of smoke, the moon still hanging around and the sun just beginning to get out, “so why did we wake up so early?”

“’Cause we have to break in,” Perrie chirps, “and because the chicken place only sells whole chickens early.”

“Right,” Jesy deadpans, “of course.”

-

“You are so lucky you only had one week off from softball,” Perrie murmurs, head hanging over the top of her chair, the classroom’s lights harsh over her eyes.

“Lucky we only got a couple of Saturday detentions,” Leigh-Anne mutters, hands fiddling with her box of cigarettes, “thanks for that babe,” Leigh-Anne throws a quick smile at Jade.

“I feel so dirty,” Jade whines, clunks her head against the table, “I…I was sure we wouldn’t have gotten caught.”

“We weren’t,” Jesy shrugs, pushes her sunglasses up her nose, “then Edwards happened.”

“They were going to hurt the chickens,” Perrie squeaks, “I thought all lives were important in this mission.”

“Dude,” Leigh-Anne leans over the table, “they’re just chickens.”

“Whatever,” Perrie rolls her eyes, “at least this way they didn’t kill ‘em and we didn’t get in too much trouble.”

“It’s Jade’s face,” Leigh-Anne grins, “no one can stay mad at that face.”

“And you can’t stay away from her pants,” Jesy cracks her knuckles, “now who wants to ditch this place?”

-

“The key is to stay close to me,” Perrie says, flower crown going over her eyes, and not to get hit in the face with a sign.”

“Why didn’t you bring Leigh or Jade instead? I’m going to get dirty,” Jesy whines, arms lifting up the pile of signs Perrie throws out of her car.

“Well even though Leigh-Anne is probably strong, I figure you were stronger and I needed someone to help me carry these, but also, I kinda wanted you to come along with me instead, for reasons.”

There’s a lot of rainbows and signs about _love being love_ and Jesy cottons on quick what the festival is about.

Perrie pulls up a sign with a messy scrawl, _girls like kissing girls too_ and takes a hold of Jesy’s hand, pulls her through the throng of people, to stand after stand ran by pretty boys and androgynous girls, all smiling at them and congratulating them on their relationship.

Jesy gives up explaining otherwise after the fifth stand and Perrie giggles and chants along to the new rally going on.

There’s flowers everywhere and girls that look at Jesy like she’s fair game. It makes Jesy’s belly hot with possibilities, to reach out and kiss one of them and have nothing to give for it, just some fun, liberating and _perfectly ok_.

Jesy starts to think that maybe the reason why not having a boyfriend for long never properly bother her is because maybe she’s never really wanted one. Not when she could have big doe eyes and soft curves, a plush body, someone that smells like flowers and grass and sunshine.

“This is ok, right?” Perrie asks, they’re huddled under a tree, kebabs cradled over thin sheets of aluminum.

“The festival?” Jesy asks back, looks at Perrie, “Yeah it’s cool, wicked even.”

“No,” Perrie shakes her head, opens her mouth and closes it, Jesy catches the way it tries not to curve down into a frown, “is it…is it ok…you know…me?”

Jesy blinks at that, can feel the heat of the hot meat seeping into the palm of her hand, “oh,” she looks around, pass the smoke and the dirt, the mob of people, the heavy music, “yeah,” she says, “yeah it’s fine.”

They go back into the mass of people, start dancing to the song, it’s all wrong, Perrie presses close and Jesy holds on, clings on because this is all she has to go by, all she probably will get.

Her skin gets sticky with sweat and Perrie’s breath is searing against her neck. There’s hands pushing them, cheering them on as they get thrown on stage and then a chant of _kiss kiss kiss_.

Jesy laughs, the shine of the park’s lights and the strings of Christmas lights of the stands blurring together. She shakes her head but Perrie’s fingers curl around her neck, guiding her down (Jesy’s boots are getting to be annoying at this point) to her mouth.

Their lips bump along, the angle too wrong to get a proper kiss, Perrie laughs, soft and out of breath, tilts her head, and slots her mouth to Jesy’s.

It’s a slow slide of lips and Perrie’s tongue finds it’s way to Jesy’s mouth, traces over the roof of her tongue and the row of her teeth. It makes Jesy’s knees go weak and limbs go heavy. It’s nothing like she expected, too soft and too warm to be Perrie and everything she stands for.

Jesy doesn’t go home, Perrie's mouth keeps her anchored in her little shitty car, signs thrown at the back if it, fake leather pressing to Jesy’s bare back.

The moon fades into the windows and Perrie’s eyes look so pretty, so much like home, Jesy smiles and lets Perrie rock into her, mouth latch to the underside of her chest, where the little sun she scarred there still sometimes hurts and her fingernail scraping into the little star of Jesy’s hip.

It’s cold the next day, the wind whipping around and cold rain pelting down. Jesy shows up with a jumper and her hair in a bun and Perrie shows up with Jesy's varsity jacket, too big on the sleeves but otherwise perfect.

At this point, no one says a thing, not since Jade and Leigh-Anne, not since they formed their little group.

Jesy cranes her head back for a hello kiss and Leigh-Anne raises her eyebrows at them, finger pointing between them and Jesy shrugs, sits Perrie on her lap and tells Jade _not a word_.

“Not fair,” Jade says, “you gave me so much trouble over Leigh-Anne, I deserve a dig or two!”

-

Jesy’s house is huge, but they end up in Jesy’s room anyway. Perrie loses her clothing pretty fast and Jesy gets out her old tattoo gun, etches on flower chains over Perrie’s wrists and ankles and a little tiny _J_ on the inside of her thigh.

“Your freckles are starting to come back,” Perrie whispers, hands under her chin, legs kicking up.

Jesy nods, hair falling over her face, “yeah look,” she cants her hips up, scoots closer to Perrie, “even the ones on my thighs.”

Perrie laughs, “why are we lying around naked?”

“Cause we just had sex and your tattoos are still really red,” Jesy shrugs, “you wanna connect the dots?”

“With the tattoo gun?” Perrie raises a surprised eyebrow.

“Or your mouth, whatever you prefer,” Jesy smirks.

-

“Oh god, I thought I was done doing this,” Jesy says to herself, runs in her softball uniform towards the the group of people crowded in the parking lot, surrounding Leigh-Anne as she punches a guy.

It’s easy to take a hold of her, with Leigh-Anne not really expecting it, she drags her into the locker rooms and sits her down.

“Now what?” Jesy clicks her tongue, crosses her arm (now cluttered with little tattoos Perrie seems insistent on giving her, all around the thick ones she gets at her favorite tattoo parlor).

“He was talking about Jade,” Leigh-Anne says, “saying things only I should be saying.”

“You can’t hit everyone who looks or talks about Jade,” Jesy sighs.

“I can try!” Leigh-Anne growls, gets up and leaves the locker room.

Jesy shouldn’t really be surprised.

-

Jade presses a kiss to Leigh-Anne’s black eye and offers her half of her sandwich.

“Hey sunshine,” Perrie says, drops on the empty seat on the bench and takes out an apple.

“Hey kid,” Jesy bumps their shoulders together.

Jesy tilts her head to side, lets Perrie put a kiss on her cheek and goes back to taping her wrist.

“You wanna go get a piercing with me?” Perrie asks, puts Jesy’s jacket on her lap and takes a bite of her apple.

“Yeah babe,” Jesy nods, “I need some new ink.”

“Can I go?” Leigh-Anne asks and Jade doesn’t bother looking up from her book.

-

Leigh-Anne gets a tattoo on her back, butterflies because they remind her of Jade. Perrie looks at her reflection, head craned back as she presses gingerly on her new neck piercing.

“It looks good,” Jesy assures her, arm wrapped where her new tattoo still feels raw, a daisy chain.

Jade gets something on her hip, the outline of a heart and they all laugh because out of all of this, Jesy never expected Jade to go through it.

Leigh-Anne presses her hand to it and Jade blushes, winces but leans in closer. Perrie smiles, climbs onto Jesy’s back and tells her to carry her home.


End file.
